Child of the Morrow
by emaline5678
Summary: A lost scene from the end of Womb Raider. Piper and Leo discuss what the doctor's results really mean to them. Sweet fluffy PL fanfiction.


_Here is that "Womb Raider" tale that I finally committed to paper. It's just a sweet, little love letter to my fave TV couple. Very mushy, but sweet. All P/L really. _

_Once again, I don't own "Charmed". If I did Cole would never have been so misused in season 5. _

Numbly, Leo Wyatt trudged up the worn, carpeted stairs. The past few weeks had passed in a whirling rush of action and emotions. Cole Turner had become the new Source of Evil. He had impregnated his wife, Phoebe, with evil and made her his dark queen. Leo, his wife Piper and her sister, Paige, had almost lost their lives to save Phoebe…and destroy the evil Cole.

Leo had gone through so much grief, pain, agony and despair at the thought of losing another sister-in-law and friend. His heart really couldn't take much more drama. Yet, it wasn't those wounds that stung and throbbed – it was the new jagged hole Piper had cut into all his best hopes. Her words rang through his brain as if on eternal REPEAT.

_"Rough road."_ That's what Dr. Harris had told her. They were '_in for a rough_ _road'_.

"What the hell does that mean?" Leo thought in dim frustration. He and Piper had been trying for months to finally start the dream family they had always envisioned. Piper had _been_ to the future. She had _seen_ the sweet little girl they would have together. Now a bunch of test tubes and computer print-outs were telling them they would never have that little girl.

He wearily stepped into the Manor's master bedroom that he shared with Piper. Silently, he watched his wife as she fussed about the room – changing the sheets, fluffing the pillows, filing away the last of the clean laundry. Over Piper's movements, he faintly heard the soft strains of Eve Cassidy float out of Phoebe's room. In Paige's room, he heard the clicking of a computer mouse. The quiet of the house did nothing to soothe his frustration.

"Piper," Leo murmured softly as he closed the dolor behind him. His wife continued to straighten the room. Every time he looked at her, he was impressed with her soft, dark beauty. Even causally dressed in red sweat pants and a black sweatshirt with her hair in a scrunchie, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It tore at his heart that there was the possibility they would never have a daughter to share her long chestnut hair, her laughing, dark eyes or her mischievous, crooked grin.

"Piper," Leo began in a louder voice. Whatever the tests had said, he still wanted to talk about it. She was his best friend – they could share all of their secrets together.

"I hope Phoebe can pull through this," Piper muttered as she tore off the old navy pillowcases. "It was bad enough to lose Cole. But the baby too? I mean, I know it was pure evil anyway, but still. I hope she won't blame herself for any of this. None of this was her fault. I just don't want what Cole put her through to ruin her life. She needs to know that she still has us and Paige and –"

Leo's heart broke to watch her nervously ramble. She gestured wildly with her hands as she spoke and never turned to look at him. That caused the waves of pain to squeeze his heart in a crush of emotion. God, what an ass he was. She was just as heartbroken and confused as he was – and it wasn't all about Phoebe either.

He walked up to her and quickly grabbed her wild, flighty hands. They felt so cold in his grasp. They even shook a little as he turned her towards him. Why was she so afraid now? Despair dug a channel into his heart, like a knife twisting in the wound.

"Piper, please talk to me. What's going on?"

"I – I don't want to talk about I," she whispered, her eyes only meeting the top button of his red checkered shirt.

"Baby, please. Tell me," Leo begged, sitting on the unmade bed so she was forced to meet his green eyes. Even then, she dipped her head and focused on their entwined hands.

Something cold and icy dripped into his stomach. What if there was something seriously wrong with Piper? What if she couldn't have children because of some God awful cancer or…worst. Panic and fear collided in his heart. He lifted her chin with a shaking hand until he could see into her tear-filled eyes.

"What did the doctor mean by '_rough road_'? Please, honey. I want to know."

Piper sighed heavily as a single tear slipped from her eyes. She slid into his lap and wrapped her small arms around his neck, keeping her ear pressed to his heart. He automatically tucked his own strong arms around her back and waist.

"Oh, Leo. Why can't we just have one good thing in our lives? One thing that magic doesn't mess with?"

"It's kind of hard, honey, when you're a witch and I'm technically dead."

Piper only let out a sob at his lame attempt at humor. Her tears always turned his insides into piles of worthless slime. He moved her away from him until he could kiss away the salty emotion from her cheeks.

She smiled bitterly as if his kisses had given her a surge of strength. She wiped at her wet cheeks and looked into his scared, confused, muddled green eyes. She caressed his cheek lightly to grant him a burst of hope.

"Well, Dr. Harris said that there wasn't anything too seriously wrong with me. There as just a lot of scarring on my ovaries that would make getting pregnant difficult. He didn't say it was impossible – we – it - would just be harder for us. I mean, there are other options out there like _in vitro_ or even adoption. We just can't give up hope yet."

"Scarring," Leo murmured, running one hand slowly over her abdomen. There was one such wound he had healed there that he knew he would never forget. Piper received it the day the Source's assassin, Shax, threw her and her sister, Prue, through a wall. Piper had only barely survived….Prue didn't.

"Yeah, I guess getting knocked around every day by demons doesn't make having a baby any easier," Piper said with a weak chuckle.

"I still should have been able to heal all of that. Why couldn't I heal all of you?" he murmured and turned his hand over to stare at his palm. There were so many times over the years when healing light had issued from his hands. His own great gift – his calling – was to heal those hurt by magic. Now he was to learn that all of his healing power was for nothing if he hadn't been able to heal Piper completely.

"Leo, no. Look at me," Piper cried, puling his face up to hers. Tears still shone like fallen stars in her eyes, though her smile was brave.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you," she told him. "At least not right away. I knew you'd be just as heartbroken as I was. And I didn't want you to blame yourself for any of this. There's still other things we can try. We don't have to give up yet."

"I'm not blaming myself," Leo said quietly as his jaw tightened. Anger bloomed like a scarlet poisonous rose in his heart, replacing all of his earlier despair and frustration.

"I blame _them_," he growled, glancing quickly at the ceiling.

"Leo-"

"No, _they_ make you sacrifice everything," Leo cried, pushing Piper to her feet as he stood up to angrily pace the room.

"You fall in love with me - _they_ try to break us apart. Prue falls for Andy – he ends up dead. Phoebe falls for a demon and he turns into the Source of all fucking Evil. It's just not goddamn fair! You girls have sacrificed so much…families…Prue. We should be able to have this one thing - this one piece of ourselves. Demons may come crashing in here every other night, but we should still be able to raise a child in peace."

"Leo-"

"No, it's not fucking fair! You guys did everything – _we_ did everything _they_ asked. We waited for _their_ grand permission to marry as if _they_ had any right at all to break us up in the first place. You and I have every right to start our own family, Piper. _They_ have no right to meddle. I'm just so sick of worrying about what demon may kill you or that I might not hear you call for help. Damn it, we deserve to have that little girl!"

Leo continued to fume and snarl as he stalked from one end of the room to the other. For 60 years, he had sacrificed his own happiness for his _calling_. Now when he finally had the chance to have his own family with the woman he loved, fate or _them_ or God was blocking the way again. It just wasn't fair. Why couldn't' they ever be happy for more than one solid minute?

Abruptly he was aware of the sudden deafening silence in the room. He turned around to see that Piper was staring at him, a frozen "O" of surprise on her mouth. Inwardly, Leo groaned. _Smooth move, Wyatt_. Piper was as vulnerable and heartbroken as he was and instead of calmly comforting her, he was hollering around the room like a drunken orangutan.

"Piper, I'm sorry," he said, reaching for her hands. "I didn't mean to get so upset."

"Wow. Leo – I've never seen you so angry before," Piper replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry, honey. I know I shouldn't have-"

"No, that's a good thing," Piper said with a slow grin. Leo's forehead dipped over his eyes in confusion.

"What? Piper, you should be throwing me out of the house, I-"

"-had every right to be mad," she said, her grin spreading even wider. "I would have been even more hurt if you hadn't gotten upset. Besides, you're always so damn sexy when you're angry."

"I am?" Leo replied with a sheepish grin.

"Mmmm-hmmm," Piper whispered, capturing his lips in a quick, yet soft, warm kiss.

"So you're not mad at me for acting like a jerk."

"Mmmm-hmmm," she replied, slowly shaking her head and stealing another kiss.

"Mmm…Piper," he growled, pulling her closer to him. She tucked her hands against his chest and cuddled her cheek against his neck. He closed his eyes and took in the scent of her soft, halo of hair. God, how he loved her! For a moment, he let her loving warmth cool his angry, bitter heart. He had been the calming balm to her wild fire of anger so many times over the years. Now it was her turn to comfort and soothe him.

"What are we going to do?" he whispered, slowly rocking her small body.

"Dr. Harris said we have options," Pier said, her voice muffled against her chest. She then moved a little to look up into his face. "But we definitely can't give up hope. I know there's a chance we can have this baby, Leo. I've already seen it. We _will_ have that little girl one way or another."

"You're damn right we will," Leo growled. "Besides, who wants to believe a bunch of numbers anyway?"

"Exactly." Piper grinned as Leo sought her lips once more. She whimpered softly when he pulled reluctantly away from her mouth.

"Now –what were some of those other options?" Leo asked, softly nuzzling her earlobe. The love that throbbed between them was real, true, eternal. They would have that baby _somehow_. Damn it, if they had to go to the future and steal their child and bring her back, they would do it. They would have a family together – no matter what _they_ said. They only had to keep their hope and faith in each other alive.

"I think you already know the first one," Piper gasped as he slowly placed soft, sensual kisses along her warm, porcelain neck God, how he loved to kiss that soft spot right below her ear.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he whispered, capturing her soft, sweet lips in a passionate warm kiss before she could even respond. His lips and tongue found hers again and again until the world slowly evaporated around them –until there were no demons, no Elders, no evils, no worries – nothing…except, the two of them united in sweet, eternal love.


End file.
